Sunday, July 22, 2007

GOING SWIMMIN’

Four or five times a day I don a hat and go outside to tackle my mortal enemy.

(the hat is for another enemy not covered in this post)

Although his beauty can be astonishing, each one that goes down is a moment of triumph.

I don’t REAALLLLLLY “murder” them; I just collect them and assist them to go “swimming.”

It can be an enjoyable game. Firstly, there’s Find the Beetle, which is a pastime similar to hunting for Easter eggs in the grass. Then there’s Cup Toss, a game of skill to catch the beetle as he drops to the ground OR flies off into the air. I must do this while not disturbing the rest of the plant, or OTHER beetles will flee before it’s their turn for The Big Swim.

I very much enjoy the other creatures I see in the plants; they are numerous, and so different from each other.

A spider that has caught a butterfly

The butterfly's happy brother

A caterpillar

A bee with orange legs

Another butterfly

My son thebenedictmock says I need to start listing Beetle-Hunting as my hobby!

Is that a photo of one of those nasty Japanese Beetles? My parents are currently having quite a battle with them as are all the farmers in their area. MathMom, my understanding is that the sprays kill the good bugs along with the bad bugs, which in the case of flowers and things that pollinate is bad. I am not a gardener so please correct me if I am wrong!!

You're funny, I love the "swimmin hole." But aren't there an awful lot of those buggers to catch? I guess one good thing about this dry summer we've had, is that we haven't had nearly as many beetles as usual.